BP#12:Running and Ethics

For Pat Huffman, 52, running was her life. It has consoled her when she was going through PTSD from a horrible experience when she was younger. Running was a way for her to escape and she loved it. So when we was accused of cheating in the Marine Corps Marathon on May 15, 2015, she was heartbroken.

In sports, ethics are very important. People work hard to be the best and spend a lot of time training and bettering themselves. So why would anyone take that away by cheating? This situation can be related to many philosophical theories but I think this plays into Aristotles normative theories and virtue ethics. Huffman has clearly established virtues and knows right from wrong. She knew she would never cheat and although the race organizers said she did because they couldn’t find evidence of her running in the middle of the race, that didn’t make her waver in her claim that she would have nothing to gain from cheating. There was no award or prize money for the race, it was simply to raise money and awareness for the cause. This situation also applies to McFall’s idea of integrity and how a persons integrity is based on how consistent they are in their actions. Huffman knew how much running meant to her and how much hard work people put into training and she would never jeopardize the integrity of runners and her own credibility to cheat. This situation has to do with both integrity and virtues and through the accusations made toward her at that race, her credibility was hurt and she wants to make sure that her kids and everyone knows that she did not cheat. In life, people will try to come up with reasons to dull your greatness but for Huffman, she knew she had run the best race of her life and she wasn’t letting anyone take that from her.